Deception
by Zory22
Summary: Artemis finally reveals herself as the mole and in the process finally unmasks Robin.  She'll not only battle her ex-team, but herself as she finally decides what's right for her.  Summaries are difficult.  Rated T for safety
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Killing Two Birds With One Stone

Artemis' PoV

Gotham City was hands down one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Sure you had your druglords, your gangs, and your run of the mill thugs, but Gotham City seemed to be the home to some of the craziest criminals that the world couldn't even begin to comprehend. However, I would meet Joker, the Clowned Prince of Crime, any night rather than the man who kept a bat's eye view over the entire city. Crossing The Dark Knight was practically begging to spend the next few years in Arkham Asylum. Crossing Batman by injuring his partner signed your own death warrant.

Which would beg the question why I was up here, on top of Wayne Enterprises, letting the wind whip my long blond hair against my bare arms, crouching behind the raven haired sidekick. He seemed pathetic as he sat on the roof in front of me, his ankles and wrists tied together behind his back as he balanced only on the balls of his feet. The wind caused him to waver in his precarious position on the edge of the roof. I could see his jaw clench tightly as the muscles in his leg tensed to help stable his balance.

"I trusted you!" The Boy Wonder bellowed at me, his usually calm and light demeanor corrupted by rage and hate. I quickly gagged his screaming tongue, not wanting to alert daddy bats. His eyes narrowed through his domino mask as I walked around in front of him.

"Your mistake, young Robin," my father cackled beside me as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I cocked an arrow in my treasured bow, taking aim through one open eye, raising the tip until it was level with his throat. "Let's end this Artemis before the rest of the Junior Justice League show up." I watched Sportsmaster in my peripherals until he disappeared into Wayne Industries to steal the new nanotechnology. When the door closed my eyes focused completely on Robin who was careful not to struggle as one wrong move could send him over the edge of the skyscraper.

"There's just one more thing I wanted to do," I smirked, placing the arrow back in my quiver and my bow over my shoulder. I knelt down in front of Robin, my smirk widening so much that my eyes showed curiosity and expectation. I reached up, biting my lip I fingered the edges of the black domino mask before ripping it harshly away from the soft skin.

I was rooted to the spot as his eyes met mine. Cold, so cold were the blue eyes that glared back at me, a red ring forming on the skin that had become irritated from the ripping of the fabric. The goosebumps on my skin raised higher than ever as a chill went down my spine, freezing me to the bone. My smirk faltered.

"Richard?" I breathed silently. My friend, my only real friend who I shouldn't have had to worry about betraying. One I had come to rely on, when I knew I was fooling everyone else. I'd never even suspected.

"Artemis?" I turned slowly, uncertainty and disbelief ringing loudly in my ears from the voice of the newcomer. Wally West, team flirt, residential speedster and all around general good guy, stood by the door that led back into the building that Sportsmaster had entered a few minutes before. His face was a mask of confusion as his eyes darted from me, then to Richard. "What are you doing?" His was barely loud enough for me to hear as I jumped up beside Robin on the edge of the roof.

"Souvenir," I frowned, glancing back at the mask in my hand, squeezing it tightly before sliding it into a pocket on my belt. "Make a choice," I ordered, nudging the Boy Wonder over the side of the building.

Though both of our movements were quick, time seemed to stand still, making this the longest three seconds of my life. Pulling out a grappling hook, I aimed at the building behind me and fired. Over my shoulder, Wally crouched and took off toward me, turning into a red and yellow blur. I kicked off hard, the wind whistling in my ears as I flew through the air. I tucked and rolled as I landed on the next roof. Taking off as soon as my feet had touched, I fought the urge to watch what I hoped was the rescue going on behind me.

-

Robin's PoV

"Robin!" Wally screamed, his green eyes meeting mine before running to the edge I had just vacated. I could see him running down the ladder of the fire escape on this side of the building, the metal slowing his progress. Although I knew Wally was fast, I couldn't count on him to be fast enough to find some way to stop my fall.

I pulled a knife from the inside of my gloves and quickly cut through the rope that held my wrists and ankles together. As I swung my arms under my feet, a shadow to my left caught my attention. I immediately raised my arms above my head just as a black kevlar glove circled around my wrists. I grunted in response to my body changing directions so quickly. My savior let go of his grappling hook and we flipped through the air, my landing on the street wobbly. A blur of yellow and red slid gracefully to a stop in front of me, but I barely noticed my best friend.

"What happened? What's wrong with Artemis?" Wally's words came out too fast for anyone who wasn't used to him speaking. I didn't answer as I walked towards my savior, my eyes were trained on the tall figure dressed in all black who'd miraculously saved me in the nick of time.

"You got caught," the Dark Knight scolded his back turned to me as he scanned the tall buildings. "I told you not to trust anyone."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," I grumbled, rubbing my chest. Pulling the spare mask from my utility belt, I slid it on quietly. "Batman?" I asked. Even though he didn't turn around, I knew he was listening. I ran my hand through my hair, pulling on the ends as I took a deep breath. "What does this mean, for us?" I asked. Robin's identity revealed meant a short jump to Batman's true identity.

"I don't know," came the honest reply. "We just have to wait."

Closing my eyes, I rubbed my chest that ached with pain from betrayal and the dread of losing the line between Richard Grayson and Robin, The Boy Wonder.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: So seven things before the story this time.**

**1. I do not own Young Justice. (Didn't mention that last time, but I don't.)**

**2. Also, in my excitemen, I committed a crime worse than claiming I owned the show. I forgot to brag about the**

**greatest beta in the world, Spymage. Without them, the story wouldn't be nearly as good.**

**3. For the future, expect flashbacks for a while. **

**4. I will try to update once a week from now on. I'm sorry this one took so long.**

**5. To my reviewers:**

**-Robinlover22543, Evrange, LadyMysteri, GrassFairy, Cunningham0208487, TheGrayson, and Robin'sStar: **

**Thank you so much for your kind reviews. I'm glad you enjoy the story and the length of the chapters. I'm so glad **

** you guys are patient with me.**

**: I am glad you pointed this out to me. Though I was originally going to explain why he did it, I have been going into better detail with the Why. I'm hoping to answer your questions soon.**

**6. To my big brother Ollie. Without your encouragement, I would have discontinued this story.**

**7. Finally, This chapter is in Dick Grayson's PoV.**

**Chapter 2: I Believe This Could Work**

_***Flashback***_

_**My eyes were trained on the floor as I sat across from Black Canary. Even now I could see her toes twitching in her scuffed black boots. If it had been any other situation, I might even try to determine where each scar on her shoe had come from.**_

_**"Hurting? Try traumatized." My voice sounded strange. Instead of the charming loquatious Robin, I heard the cracked and sorrowful Dick Grayson breaking through. "I finally become leader and wind up sending all my friends to their deaths. I -I know I did what I had to do, but I hated it. When we first started this team, I was desperate to be in charge - not anymore. And - and that's not even the worst of it... " My eyes left the floor to stare into hers, my shades only dimming her baby blues slightly. "You can't tell Batman."**_

_**"Nothing leaves this room." With a stiff, but comforting nod, I continued.**_

_**"I always wanted - expected to-to grow up and - and become him. And the hero bit, I'm still all in. But that thing inside of him, that thing that drives him to sacrifice everyhing for the sake of his mission, that's not me. I don't want to be Batman - anymore."**_

_I snapped my head up, my math problems coming back into focus in front of me before I searched for the noise that had woken me from my stupor. A new stack of books were across from my own, long, olive fingers pushing against them as if they were going to move away._

_"I hear you're the person to talk to to get help in calculus." Artemis fidgeted in front of me, uncharacteristic of her usual strong and determined pose. That exercise the other day obvious had gotten to us all. Voices from other students drifted in from the hallways. Plans for homework and the Halloween dance on Friday drifted off into silence, the hallway finally cleared. Behind me, I could hear the other mathletes conversing with either each other or their tutoring charges._

_Not Good, not good at all. I thought to myself as I stared back at her. Bruce had kindly given her the scholarship so we could keep an eye on her, but Dick Grayson was NOT, under any circumstances, to mingle with Artemis Crock. Batman wanted no chances._

_"Let me see, I'm sure one of us would be-" I was cut off as she shoved a piece of paper in front of me, elegant scrawl scratched the page._

_"No, Mr. Stoddard said you," she interrupted, firmly pointing to the autograph of my favorite math teacher. "Apparently, I'm way beyond his help and he said if anyone could get me ready for the test on Friday, it would be you." When I looked back at her, she had a well placed scowl on her face as if associating with a mathlete was the worst torture on Earth. She should go through one of Bat's training sessions, I sniggered quietly, covering my hand with my mouth at the thought._

_"I'm glad one of us thinks this is hilarious," she bit off as she grabbed her books and began stuffing them into her book bag. In all honesty, I probably should just let her go, but my desire to prove my genius to another got the best of me. Plus, if she got kicked out of Gotham Academy because I wouldn't tutor her, Bruce would probably kill me._

_"No, I'm sorry," I grinned, grabbing her last book as she picked it up. "I got this, I wasn't laughing at you I promise. I just find that a lot of people come here like you, upset that a freshman is helping them pass their classes. But I don't mind. I know I'd be upset if a Freshman was smarter than me anyway." The look of mock horror across her face nearly sent me into another fit of giggles, but this time I managed to control it. Instead, I calmly patted the seat next to mine and pulled my math book between us._

_"So where exactly do you need help at?" I asked, watching as she turned through the pages. I felt a rock hit the bottom of my stomach when she turned to the first chapter._

_"How about here?" She asked, pointing._

_"Okay," I grimaced, my words coming out slowly. "Limits of functions as x approaches a constant. Easy stuff," I grinned before taking out a sheet of paper. "Everyone INCORRECTLY concludes that 0/0 is equal to 1 or 0 , or that the limit does not exist or is positive infinity or negative infinity. In fact, the form 0/0 is an example of an indeterminate form. This simply means that you have not yet determined an answer." My voiced was laced with boredom as I began to go over basics, waving my hand through the air._

_"Um, how about in English?" She interrupted again, a scowl crossing my face this time. This was going to be a very long day..._

_2 hours later..._

_"Okay, that was so much easier than I took it for," Artemis beamed at me when all I wanted to do was bang my head against the desk repeatedly._

_"You call that easy?" I asked, running a frustrated hand through my hair, before I realized she meant the problems and not the fact that she was lucky in not having to tutor someone like her. "Right, it is," I nodded, trying to cover up my jab at her intelligence. "But you're still not ready. You need to come see me after school every day this week, just to be ready for the test."_

_"But I-"_

_"No buts. If you have something more important than school though, I'm sure Mr. Stoddard would understand." Judging by the scowl on her face, she knew she wouldn't be able to get out of this one._

_"Fine, I'll see you tomorrow," She grumbled as I chuckled, watching her has she snatched her bag from the seat and left the classroom. As soon as she was out of sight, I bolted in the opposite direction. Robin and Artemis couldn't exactly arrive at the zeta tube together, so naturally, I had to be first. The door to the Royce was already open and I slid inside._

_"To the Mountain Master Dick?" Alfred asked, an amused glint in his eye as I threw off my school uniform and began pulling on my tights._

_"Yes, Artemis is on her way too." As if in understanding, my grandfather sped up a little._

_**-Breakline-**_

_That Friday..._

_Artemis rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet as she stood outside Mr. Stoddard's classroom._

_"Has he posted them yet?" I asked as I walked up beside her, knowing he always posted his test grades on the same day. Artemis jumped a little and I raised an eyebrow a little bit. I glanced over her shoulder to see the empty wall. "Don't worry, it's almost 4, he always has them posted by 4." I assured her as I checked my watch. 3:57. Not much longer._

_"What are you doing here?" the blond archer asked when I leaned against the wall beside her, staring at the ceiling. I chuckled softly, closing my eyes momentarily before I turned to look at her again._

_"I put just as much work in this as you did. I came to congratulate you on your mad math skills," I teased, loving how she squirmed under my words._

_"Cocky, aren't we? How are you sure all of your hard work helped?" She tried to counter, but her failing voice proved how nervous she really was. I frowned slightly, opening my mouth to offer some words of encouragement but before I could answer, Mr. Stoddard opened the door and began taping a computer printout to his door. He turned to us, nodded, before walking back inside. As a moth to a flame, all of the kids from the calculus class, appeared out of no where and I had to step back to keep from getting trampled on. Artemis moved into the huddle, reappearing a moment later when she stood on her tip toes to look for her student ID and grade._

_An uncharacteristic squeal echoed in my ears as Artemis came rushing towards me. "Thank you thank you thank you," she mumbled over and over into my shoulder as she picked me up off of the ground in a tight hug. I stiffened slightly at the surprising affection and waited patiently for her to put me back down. Once she did, I smoothed down my now messy hair, chuckling softly. When I looked back up at her, she held a tight embarrassed smile to her lips._

_"Um, no problem Artie," I laughed, and she smiled more happily now before grabbing her bag and walking off. "You know Artemis," I started, my voice falling off as she stopped. "I'm more than just a math genius." Her eyes met mine for a brief second and I knew she understood. Maybe, just maybe, this could work, I thought. Richard could be friends with Artemis Crock, and Robin could be friends with Artemis, Green Arrow's protege._

_*End Flashback*_

Kid Flash caught up to me in an alley where the old phone booth waited to take us to Mount Justice, and to no one's surprise, he couldn't keep his mouth shut about Artemis' betrayal from moments before.

"What is going on? What happened with Artemis? Did she steal your mask?" Kid Flash poked me with each question he threw at me.

"Shut it, Kid Mouth," I growled as I punched his shoulder harsher than usual before turning to place in the codes to take us to Mount Justice.

"Kid Flash," Batman called sternly behind me, and out of the corner of my eye I could see him place a firm hand on Wally's shoulders. "Nothing will be said about Robin's identity in front of the rest of the team. If it should come to that, then we'll discuss what happened with them then, but in this meeting we are only informing them of Artemis' decision." If anyone could shut Wally up, it was the Batman, and if I wasn't so pissed right now, I would probably smirk at the scared nod he sent back to the Dark Knight.

"Recognizing Batman, Robin, Kid Flash," the computer echoed as we stepped into the mountain. Almost immediately M'gann ran up to us.

"Where is Artemis?" She asked, as I brushed on pass her.

"Find the others, tell them there's an emergency meeting in the training room." Batman ordered, also ignoring her questions.

5 minutes later, M'gann, Kaldur, and Superboy joined us.

"Earlier tonight, Robin recieved the alarm of a robbery at Wayne Interprises. Calling Artemis and Kid Flash in for back up, because they were the closest," the latter part being said because it looked as if Superboy would interupt. "Robin and Artemis arrived first." Batman turned on the screen, showing the team the security footage from earlier that night. "Sportsmaster, Cheshire, Hook, and Spyder made the jump on the two of them. Sportsmaster moved to the vault while Robin and Artemis fought the other three. Once able to subdue those three, they followed Sportsmaster."

"That was a little easy." Robin commented to Artemis on the tape, and even the team could hear the uncertainty in his voice as they raced up the stairs.

Batman changed the screen to another tape and the team watched as Artemis and Robin entered the vault room where the villain was currently lurking, trying to get inside the vault. This time, no sound could be heard as Robin readied his batarangs. Artemis, an arrow knocked in her bow, fluidly changed the target from Sportsmaster, to the Boy Wonder, who never saw it coming. Batman turned off the security tapes as an audible gasp came from the Martian.

"No," she murmured, sobbing quietly as Superboy placed an arm around her.

"I have no doubt that if Kid Flash hadn't shown up, they would have finished Robin off," Batman concluded, but didn't go into detail about the rescue. "It appears as if she was the mole all along, following the orders of her father, Sportsmaster." Everyone but Batman and I began talking at once.

"Sportsmaster is her-"

"Why didn't she-"

"This can't be true-"

"As it is," Batman continued, interrupting everyone. "They succeeded in stealing the technology."

"Pardon me sir, but what kind of technology struck the attention of the Shadows?" Aqualad asked.

"It's a computer program originally designed for Robots, however, in the wrong hands, it could be modified for humans. It's essentially a small computer chip that once injected, attaches itself to the nervous system, allowing complete and utter control over the subject. Combined with the Kobra venom toxin, it allows the shadows to control their monsters, or anyone they can get their hands on, including the Justice League."

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